brauchen — German conjugation
to need, to be in need of, to require
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | brauche | I need |
| du | brauchst | you need |
| er/sie/es | braucht | he/she/it needs |
| wir | brauchen | we need |
| ihr | braucht | you (pl.) need |
| sie/Sie | brauchen | they need |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | brauchte | I needed |
| du | brauchtest | you needed |
| er/sie/es | brauchte | he/she/it needed |
| wir | brauchten | we needed |
| ihr | brauchtet | you (pl.) needed |
| sie/Sie | brauchten | they needed |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe gebraucht | I have needed |
| du | hast gebraucht | you have needed |
| er/sie/es | hat gebraucht | he/she/it has needed |
| wir | haben gebraucht | we have needed |
| ihr | habt gebraucht | you (pl.) have needed |
| sie/Sie | haben gebraucht | they have needed |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte gebraucht | I had needed |
| du | hattest gebraucht | you had needed |
| er/sie/es | hatte gebraucht | he/she/it had needed |
| wir | hatten gebraucht | we had needed |
| ihr | hattet gebraucht | you (pl.) had needed |
| sie/Sie | hatten gebraucht | they had needed |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde brauchen | I will need |
| du | wirst brauchen | you will need |
| er/sie/es | wird brauchen | he/she/it will need |
| wir | werden brauchen | we will need |
| ihr | werdet brauchen | you (pl.) will need |
| sie/Sie | werden brauchen | they will need |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde gebraucht haben | I will have needed |
| du | wirst gebraucht haben | you will have needed |
| er/sie/es | wird gebraucht haben | he/she/it will have needed |
| wir | werden gebraucht haben | we will have needed |
| ihr | werdet gebraucht haben | you (pl.) will have needed |
| sie/Sie | werden gebraucht haben | they will have needed |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | brauchte |
| du | brauchtest |
| er/sie/es | brauchte |
| wir | brauchten |
| ihr | brauchtet |
| sie/Sie | brauchten |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | brauche |
| ihr | braucht |